The Day He Learned the Truth, I Was Already Dead Chapter 04

The Day He Learned the Truth, I Was Already Dead Chapter 04

My hands reacted before my brain. I reached out to the bills like a desperate idiot.

But it didn’t work. My money, every scraped-up dollar, every hour of pain, fluttered into the ocean and vanished in seconds. The sea swallowed it, softening it into mush.

Ava acted as if she’d done some great deed, saying innocently, “Let’s return all this dirty and disgraceful money to nature. Maybe it’ll cleanse you a little, too.”

I stared at the dark water, hollowed out. She got to live the privileged life Brandon gave her without shame, and she had the nerve to call the money I earned with my own hands “dirty.”

Her giggle echoed in my ears, smug and rotten. Then, something snapped. I turned and raised my hand toward Ava.

“That is what I worked hard for!” I said, voice breaking. “How dare you call it…”

Before I even touched her, Ava threw herself backward, straight into the sea. Brandon’s eyes blew wide, and he didn’t hesitate for even half a second. He vaulted over the side with a splash and went after her.

A while later, Brandon managed to drag her up. He frantically called for emergency services while performing CPR on her, hands shaking, eyes red.

When Ava finally coughed up seawater and opened her eyes, she immediately dissolved into tears, crying out weakly. “Sylvia… I just want to help you and Brandon get along. Why do you still try to hurt me?”

Then she clutched at Brandon like she was dying. “Brandon, I know she’ll never accept me. If I have to choose between dying and leaving, then please… please let me go.”

Brandon looked like someone had ripped his heart out. He surged to his feet and slapped me so hard my head rang. “Sylvia Wilcox, it’s been five years and you still haven’t changed! Disgracing yourself to get my attention is one thing, but why do you keep going after Ava?”

I waved my head, helpless and bewildered, trying to explain. “No. It wasn’t me…”

Yet, his eyes held the same certainty as five years ago, the same refusal to believe me. I should have known it was hopeless. As long as it involved Ava, he would never be on my side.

The rest of my words lodged in my throat like glass. But I found myself staring at him and murmuring, “If I’m gone… would you be happy?”

He heard me and snorted. “If so, I’ll pop champagne.”

I stood there, stunned, and the world blurred again. A crowd of people surrounded Ava, showering her with concern. In that gray, collapsing world, it felt like I was the only person left.

I lowered my head and whispered, “Then you’ll get your wish soon.”

He did not catch it. He frowned and turned like he was about to ask what I said, but all he saw was my limping, lonely back as I walked away.

For a split second, something heavy sank in Brandon’s chest.

A feeling he couldn’t name, sharp and wrong.

Then Ava tugged on him, calling his name in that soft, needy voice, and he let the moment slip.

To make up for Ava “falling” into the water, the yacht party stretched on for another week. And thus, I couldn’t leave the yacht. I curled up in a corner, listening to the cheers and music on deck until my eyes finally closed.

A week later, Brandon hesitated again and again, then decided he would bring Sylvia home and “have a real talk” with her.

But before he could move, his phone rang. The cleaner’s voice trembled violently. “Mr. Wilcox… the girl who shined shoes… I don’t know when it happened, but she’s dead! And the body… it’s rotting on the ship!”